Alarm system



Aug. 23, 1927.

W. H. PRICE ET AL.

ALARM SYSTEM Filed July 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS WITNESS: ATTORNEY 23 1,6402% Aug 1927 w. H. PRICE ET AL ALARM SYSTEM Filed July 9, 19,2 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO R N EY HPrce I zumze zv WITNESS:

W. H. PRICE ET AL ALARM SYSTEM Aug. 23, 19.270 1,640,294

Filed July 9, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 M t H-G v mvENTORS WITNESS: ATTORNEY Aug. 23, I W. H. PRICE ET AL ALARM SYSTEM Filed July 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 &

mrtzgfl Price If. B lumaorfl NNNNNN OR WITNESS: ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 23, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WORTLEY H. PRICE- AND HAMILTON e. BLUMBERG, or SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

ALARM SYSTEM.

Application filed July 9, 1926. Serial No. 121,427.

This invention relates to an alarm system, the general object of the. invention being to provide means for notifying persons within the building in which the system is installed and the central oflice of the telephone system with which the telephone of the building is connected, that a fire has broken out in the building or that a burglar is attempting to enter the building.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for closing the circuits to lamps in the building so as to illuminate the building, thus rendering it unnecessary for persons within the same to have to switch on the lights in the ordinary manner, when a fire occurs or the building is entered by burglars.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for keeping the lamp circuits and the alarm circuits closed, after they have been initially closed by the fire or burglar circuit closers, even though the wires which are attached to the closers have been destroyed or damaged.

The invent-ion also contemplates, in another form thereof, the use of a talking machine, in connection with a telephone, with means actuated by the operation of the fire closer, to cause the talking machine to call the fire department through the telephone and notify said department where the fire is taking place, and means associated therewith and actuated by the operation of the burglar circuit closer, to cause the talking machine to call the police department and notify the said department that a burglary is taking place at the location of the building in which the device is placed.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing our invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure l is a diagrammatic view showing the first form of the invention associated with circuit closers on a door and a window, and also with a fire circuit closer.

Figure 2 is a view of the fire circuit closer.

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view through the casing which contains the operating parts of the invention.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of said casing with the top removed.

Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig ure 5.

Figure -7 is an elevation of a modified form of the invention, one side of the casing being removed.

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view' through Figure 7. Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view through the upper portion of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional view through Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic view of the circuits of the second form of the invention. In carrying out our invention, we place circuit closers 1 at each door leading to the exterior of the building and circuit closers 2 at the windows of the building, these closers being of any suitable type. We also provide fire circuit closers 3 at various points in the building. This if a burglar should attempt to enter the building or if a fire should occur in the. building, the circuits hereinafter to be described, will he closed so that both persons in the building and the proper authorities will be notified. We prefer to make each device 3, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, in which a curved bar 4. of celluloid or the like is used to hold a. spring pressed contact lever 5 off the stationary contact 6 so that if a fire should occur, the bar would be softened or destroyed and then the spring 7 'would pull the lever against the contact 6 and thus close the circuit. v

A casing S is placed on a shelf 9 or other support, at any suitable place in the building, this support also providing a rest for a telephone 10. An electric-bell 11 is placed on a partition 12 which divides the easing into two chambers and spring switches 13 and 14 are also arranged on said partition.

ll ll A guideway 15 is fastened to the exterior of one end of the casing and a plate 16 'is slidably supported by said guideway. The upper end of the plate is reduced to form a shoulder 17 and the reduced'part is bent over at ri, htangles and perforated to receive a bolt which holds a hook 18 and a knob '19 to said bent part. A spring 20 holds the plate in raised position, with the hook opening 24 in the casing, with its short end engaging the shoulder 17 on the plate. The latch lever is held in operative position by a vertical lever 25 which is pivoted adjacent its upper end to the partition, as shown at 26, with its lower end bent, as shown at 27, so that gravity will cause the lever 25 to assume a-position with its upper end under the inner end of the lever 22. A headedpin 28 is carried by the lower end of the lever 25 and the head of this pin is arranged in the path ofithe hammer'11 of the bell 11 so that when the bell has its circuit closed, the

hammer will strike the pin and thus shift the lever 25 so that its upper end will move. away from the lever 22 so that said lever will drop and thus release the plate 16 so the spring 20 will move the plate upwardly and thus raise the lever 21 of the phone" to close the circuitof the telephone. The lever 22 is guided in its movement by the bar 29 which is held in spaced relation from the partition and is limited in its downward movement by the stop 30. A member 31 is pivoted to the partition-and has a hook end engaglng an inwardly bent. part at the lowerend of the plate 16. A link 32 connects the other end of the member 31 with the lever 22. Thus when the plate 16 is depressed, its bent lower end engaging the member 31, will rock the same and this action will raise the latch lever 22 to latching position by means ofthe link 32. As the lever 22 is raised, the upper end of the lever will swing-under the same and hold it in raised position, with the plate 16 in lowered position. I

A battery B is placed in the large chamber of the casing and one terminal ofthe battery is connected by the wires 33 with the terminal 34 in one end of the casing. vA switch 35, carried by the casing, is connected with the wires so that the circuit can be broken by said switch. This-terminal 34 is connected with the circuit 36 of the closers 1, 2 and 3, as is also the terminal'37 on the casing. This terminal37 is also connected by a conductor 38 with a terminal on the bell 11. the other terminal of said bell being connected by the conductor 39 with the second terminal of the battery. Terminals 40 and 41 are connected to another source of current by the conductors 42 and terminal 40 and terminal, 43 are connected by the conductors 44 with one or more lamps 45. Ter minal 37 and terminal 46 are connected by conductors 47 with a second bell 48. Switch 13 is connected by the conductors 49 with the conductors 33 and 38 so that when this switch is closed, the circuits to the various appliances will be closed even though the outside'wires 36 and their circuit closers are damaged or otherwise put out of commission. Switch 14 is connected by the conductors 50 with terminals 41 and 43 so that when this switch is closed, the outside circuit to the, lamp will be closed. In this case, the current will come over the line 42 to terminal 41 and pass through the switch 14 by means of the conductors and will pass from the terminal 43 to the lamp over the conductors 44 and return to the terminal 40 and to the return conductor 42. These switches are closed by the lower bentpart of the plate 16, as the plate raises, said bent part will close the switch 13 and its engagement with a plunger 51 will cause said plunger to close the switch 14.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the circuit 36 will be closed if a fire occurs in the building, which will so afl'ect the rod 4 as to permit bar 5 to engage contact 6, thus closing the circuit and said circuit will be closed it a burglar shouldattempt to enter the building through the closing of either the device 1 or 2. The closing of this circuit 36 will cause thebell to ring and the first movement of the hammer of the bell willlever 25 so that it will release the move th lever 22, which will permit the plate 16 to raise and thus close the telephone circuit. Thus the ringing of the bell will be heard by the central oflice, so that saidofiice can notify'the proper authorities. Of course, the building can be identified by the central oifice through the telephone. The casing can be rovided with holes 52 so that the sound of the bell can reach the telephone and the people within the building. The upward movement of the plate 16 also closes the switches 13 and 14, which act to keep the bell circuit closed even though the outside parts of the circuit 36 have been put out of commission, the switch 14 acting to light the lamps 45. The switch 13 will'prevent the burglar from putting the device out of commission by cutting the wires. leading to the building or tampering with the parts within the building, for as soon as the parts of the circuit 36 are tampered with, the switch 13 will be closed and thus the device will start to operate. If desired, switches could be located at other points in the system to close the same. For instance, a switch 73 could be arranged near the bed of a person in the building so that if he heard a suspicious noise, he could touch the switch, thusthrowing the device into operation.

In the modification, w use a talking machine for calling through the telephone either the fire department or the police department. In this case, the talking machine is placed in an extension 53 on the top of the casing 8 and said casing contains two batteries B and two partitions 12 are placed in the casing. Each partition carries a bell, a pair of switches and their conductors, together with the latching means for the plate 16, as described inthe first form of the invention. It is, therefore, not thought necessary to describe these parts again, but one set' is identified by the letter A and the other by the letter A. One set is connected with the circuit of the fire circuit closer or closers and th other set is connected with the circuit of the burglar circuit closer. Each set is also connected with one of the batteries and we prefer to substitute a horn 48" for the second bell of the set which is operated by the fire circuit closer and to make the lamps of this set red. The burglar alarm set is connected with the second bell 48 and the lamps 45' which may be similar to those in the first form of the invention. With this arrangement, one set will be actuated by a burglar attempting to get in the building, the other set remaining idle, but this other set will be actuated if a fire occurs in the building. One of the plates 16' has its hook engaging one prong of the telephone lever, while th other plate has its hook engaging the other pron of the lever. The two parts 19" of the p ates 16 will, on the upward movement of the plates, act upon the forked endof a lever 54 which is pivoted in the extension 53 so as to rock the said lever and free the brake shoe 55 thereon from the drum 56 of the talking machine, shown generally at C, so that said machine will start to operate.

- Both the cylinder shaft 57 and the screw shaft 58 of the machine are driven from the spring motor 59. A pair of reproducers 60 'plate 16' so that. said. member 63 will be actuated and thus permit the needle to drop upon the record while the other needle remains in raised osition. A tube 66 con-. nects each repro ucer to a horn device 67 supported in front of the telephone by an arm 68 which is attached to the casing. Thus when either the set A or A is thrown into operation, the telephon circuit will be closed and the talking machine actuated so thatthe machine will speak into the telephone. The two needles engage difi'erent parts of the record and the parts of the record engaged by the needle of the reproducer operated by the fire alarm .set contain matter directing central to notify the fire department or give fire department connection direct, while the parts of the record engaged by the other needle contain matter directing central to notify .the police department, or giv direct police department connection.

For instance, the first part of the record may repeat the sentence Automatic alarm N o. 9 calling Main 80 Fire Department for 320 Broadway, while the second part of the record would repeat the sentence Automatic alarm No. 9 calling Main 60 Police Department for 320 Broadway. Thecentral office would have means for identifying the various buildings equipped with the system if the telephones were not sufiicient. As soon as the plates 16' are depressed by the knobs, the spring 69 will apply the brake to the drum 56 and thus stop the operation of the talking machine. The member 62 is then r6 turned to starting position by the handle 7 0.

In'order to cause the bells to cease ringing when the talking machine is in operation, we provide means for breaking the circuits to the bells as soon as the member 62 starts to move. Such means comprises a pair of depending parts 71 which are attached to the top of the extension 53 and which are engaged by a terminal 72 on said part 62, this part 72 being electrically connected with a battery, as shown in the diagrammatic view. Thus when the member 62 is in either limit of its movement, the circuit will be completed when the switches are closed but as soon as the member 62 starts to move, then the circuit is broken and the bells will cease to ring while the talking machine is active. As soon as the member 62 reaches the limit of its movement, the circuit is closed again and the bells again start to ring. This will insure the awakenin of persons in the build ing, as the bells wifi continue to ring until the cut-out switch is open. Figure 11 shows the circuits and as these are similar to the circuits of the first form of the invention, with the exception of the cut-outs of the talking machine, it is not thought that they need to be described in detail. Other switches can be used with this form of the invention to throw the device into operation, as described in connection with the first form of the device. The second form of the invention will operate similar to the first form," with the exceptionthat afire will throw one set of alarm means into operation while a burglar entermg the building will throw the other set into operation. In addition, the second form uses the talking machine to talk into the telephone and thus audibly notifies central that either the fire department or the police department is wanted, However, we prefer to connect either department direct, as before stated, so as to relieve the telephone operator of this additional work, asall she has to do is to make the connection in the ordinary manner and then the device will notify either department itself.

l/Ve prefer to have the device operate as follows:-

Upon the closing of the circuit, by any one of the circuit closers, the bell in the case will ring, then the telephone receiver lever is raised'so that the ringing of the bell can be heard over the telephone; then the outside bell or horn is actuated and then the lamps are lighted.

In the second form of the invention, upon the closing of the circuit, the bell in the case will operate for five seconds, then, in caseof burglary, the white lights go on and the outside bellrings. In case of fire, the red and white lights go on and the horn or siren operates; then, the telephone receiver lever is raised and the talking machine thrown into operation to call the fire department in case of fire and the police department in case of burglary; The call is repeated ten times, then the talking machineceases to operate v and the bell in the case starts to ring again.

, ing the said means into operation,"a lamp, a

The second bell or horn may outside of the building, if desired.

It is thought from the foregoin description that the advantages and nov'e ,features of our invention will be readily apparent l/Ve desire it to be understood that we may make changes-in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims;

\Vhat we claim is An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising spring actuated means for raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, trigger means for holding the spring means in inoperative position, an alarm including a bell and its hammer, means actuated by the hammer for releasing the trigger means to throw the spring actuated means into operation, a circuit for the alarm and a circuit closer in the circuit.

2. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising means for raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated thereby for throwbelocated circuit for the same, a circuit for the alarm, a circuit closer in the alarm circuit, means operated by the tele hone operating means for closing the circuit of the'lamp" and for closin the alarm circuit after it has been initia 1y closed by the circuit closer.

3. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising means for-raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated thereby for throwing the said means into operation, a lamp, a' circuit for the same, a circuit for the alarm, a. circuit closer in the alarm circuit, means operated by the telephone operating means for closing the circuit of the lamp and for closing the alarmcircuit after it has, been initially closed by the circuit closer, a second alarm and means for connecting it with the alarm circuit.

4. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising means for raising the receiver supporting lever-of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated by the operation of the alarm for throwing such means in operation, a casing enclosing the alarm and such means, a circuit for the alarm, circuit closers associated with the doors and windows of the building in which the system is placed, fire circuit closers, means for connecting the closers with the circuit and means for closing the alarm circuit and keeping it closed after it has been initially closed by one of the circuit closers.

5. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising means for raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated by the operation of the alarm for throwing such means into operation, a casing enclosing the alarm and such means, a circuit for the alarm, circuit closers associated with the doors and windows'j'of the building in which the system is placed, fire circuit closers, means for connecting the closers with the circuit, means forclosing the alarm circuit and keeping it closed after it has been initially closed by one of the circuit closers, a second alarm, lamps, and circuits for the same which are closed by the operation of the telephone operating means.

6. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising means for raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated by the alarm for throwing such means into operation, a circuit for the alarm, a circuit closer therein. a talkin machine having its horn device arrangecr to stick into thetelcphone, means for throwing the talking machine into operation by the operation of the telephone operating means and means for temporarily breaking the circuit to the alarm while the talking machine is in operation.

7. An alarm system for, use with a telephone system eomprising means for raising the receiver supporting lever of a telephone, an alarm, means actuated by the alarm for throwing such means into operation, a circuit for the alarm, a circuit closer therein,

a talking machine having its horn device arranged to stick into the telephone, means for throwing the talking machine into operatil) tion by the operation of the telephone operating means, means for temporarily breaking the circuit to the alarm while the talking machine is in operation, a lamp circuit, a'second alarm circuit and means for closing the same by the operation of the telephone operating means.

8. An alarm system for use with phone system comprising a pair of arms, two sets of means for raising the receiver supporting lever of the telephone, means actuated by the operation of each arm for throwing each set into operation, a circuit for each alarm, a fire circuit closer in one circuit, a burglary circuit closer in the other circuit, a talking machine, means for throwing the same into operation when either set of telephone operating means operates, said talking machine having two reproducers which arenormally held off a record placed on the machine, reproducer for lowering the needle thereof upon the record upon the operation of the telephone lever raising means of each set, the horn device of the talking machine being arranged to talk into the telephone.

9. An alarm system for use with a telephone system comprising .a pair of arms, two sets of means for raising the receiver supporting lever of the telephone, means actuated by the operation of each arm for throwing each set into operation, a circuit for each alarm, a fire circuit closer in one circuit, a burglary circuit closer in the other circuit, a talking machine, means for throwing the same into operation when either set of telephone operating means opcrates, said talking machine having two reproducers which are normally held ofi a record placed on the machine, means assoa telemeans associated with each ciated with each reproducer for lowering the needle thereof upon the record upon the operation of the telephone lever raising means of each set, the horn device of-the talking machine being arranged to talk into tuated by the operation of each arm for throwing each set into operation, a circuit fol-each alarm, a fire circuit closer in one circuit, a burglary circuit closer in the other circuit, a talking machine, means for throwing the same into operation when either set of telephone operating means operates, said talking machine having two reproducers which are normally held ofi a record placed on the machine, means associated with each reproducer for lowering the needle thereofupon the record upon the operation of the telephone lever raising means of each set, the horn device of the talking machine being arranged to talk into the telephone, means for temporarily breaking the circuit of either alarm when the talking machine is in operation, a lamp circuit, an alarm circuit and means operated by each telephone operating means for closing said circuits and for keeping the circuit of the first alarm closed after it has been initially closed by its circuit breaker.

In testimony whereof We aflix our signatures.

WORTLEY H. PRICE. HAMILTON G. BLUMBERG." 

